22 J'khand students evacuated from Manipur returning home

Twenty-two Jharkhand students evacuated from violence-hit Manipur will be back home by Tuesday evening, an official said. The Jharkhand government started steps to evacuate students stuck in trouble-torn Manipur at the initiative of Chief Minister Hemant Soren after a list of 34 students stranded in Manipur was received at the State Migrant Control Room- run by the Labour Department, a statement said.A list of total of 34 students was shared with the control room.

Twenty-two Jharkhand students evacuated from violence-hit Manipur will be back home by Tuesday evening, an official said. The students hail from West Singhbhum, East Singhbhum, Bokaro, Dhanbad and Ranchi.

''Twenty-two students from West Singhbhum, East Singhbhum, Bokaro, Dhanbad and Ranchi stranded in Manipur were brought safely to Jayprakash Narayan Airport, Patna. Students will reach their homes late in the evening. They will be brought to Jharkhand by bus,'' the official said. The Jharkhand government started steps to evacuate students stuck in trouble-torn Manipur at the initiative of Chief Minister Hemant Soren after a list of 34 students stranded in Manipur was received at the State Migrant Control Room- run by the Labour Department, a statement said.

''A list of total of 34 students was shared with the control room. All of them are students studying at different universities. Tickets of 22 out of 34 students were done by Labour Department and Disaster Management Department,'' the statement said. The government also circulated numbers of control room of the Labour department Jharkhand - 0651-2481055, 0651-2480058, 0651-248008, 0651-2481188, 0651-248202 and WhatsApp numbers 9470132591, 9431336398, 9431336472 besides 9470132591, 9431336398 and 9431336432 for providing information about the students of Jharkhand pursuing different courses in Manipur. An official said the process for evacuation of the remaining students is also being done.

On Monday, the state Congress submitted a list of 10 students of Jharkhand stuck in Manipur to the state government.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh had on Monday said that 60 people were killed, 231 injured and 1,700 houses, including religious places, burnt in the ethnic violence that rocked the northeastern state in the past few days. Violent clashes broke out between tribals and people belonging to the majority Meitei community in Manipur on Wednesday, displacing thousands of people.

The clashes erupted after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the ten hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal valley. Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute another 40 per cent of the population and reside mostly in the hill districts. The clashes were preceded by tension over the eviction of Kuki villagers from reserve forest land which had led to a series of smaller agitations.